No tags yet.
Little Witch Academia
Trigger (Made Me) Happy
The Series in a Sentence
Inspired by a magic performance she saw as a child, Atsuko “Akko” Kagari enrolls in Luna Nova Magical Academy to become a witch that, like her idol Shiny Chariot, can bring smiles to the faces of people everywhere.
What I liked
To start things off, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the show. By having Akko be a complete magic rookie at an esteemed magical academy, the viewer is able to discover new things alongside her while not feeling left out or under the impression of being force-fed information to get up to speed with the main cast. On the topic of the main cast, I loved their varied personalities. Akko’s overly excitable nature paired surprisingly well with Sucy’s weirdness and Lotte’s calm demeanor, Amanda’s rebelliousness made episodes like the broom-riding lessons and the infiltration into the boy’s school that much more interesting, Ursula’s meekness was hilarious at times (especially with the viewer’s knowledge that she used to be Chariot), and Diana’s innate skill and knowledge acted as a nice, though tried, foil to the rest of the cast. The character exploration, too, impressed me with the Diana mini-arc serving as an interesting look at what I assumed to be the most cookie-cutter character of the bunch, the Ursula v. Croix matches oozing out information important in the long-term, and the various smaller character-focused episodes furthering the individual traits of each side-witch (Sucy’s weird mushroom trip episode and Constanze’s classic Gainax mecha episode were personal favorites of mine). Plus, I have to give bonus points to the series for giving each character a different nationality as well. To try to keep this short, as I could ramble on all day about this show, I have to tip my hat to the plot. I’ve watched more series than I can count that set up major plot points early in order to introduce a major plot later but none integrated things as seamlessly as this series did. The Chariot show at the beginning acts as an example, with the show influencing both Akko and Diana, in turn affecting their relationship down the line, arguably marking the tipping point of the major conflict between Chariot and Croix, and being the reason Akko is so unskilled at magic. Final note: Man, the last episode got my blood boiling by pumping the opening, having the return of the shooting star, and showing some great magic.
What I Didn’t Like
Again, this section is hard for me to write because there wasn’t really anything off the top of my head that I didn’t like. Sure, a lot of the issues early on were caused by Akko herself, like the goldfish professor getting flushed, but that was meant to be that way. Likewise, the generic magic school episodes, like the broom race, were executed well enough that I didn’t care that I’ve seen them done in different ways before. Long story short: I really liked this anime.
Overall Feelings
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Little Witch Academia is a Studio Trigger Gem. It’s free of the more niche pleasures of older Trigger series that might turn people away, like the fan service of Kill la Kill and the animation style of Inferno Cop, and is full of quality music, quality animation, and quality writing. It’s a series that isn’t afraid to have fun while still being able to turn out solid twists and character developments. It doesn’t force certain relationships to occur, it doesn’t outstay its welcome, and it doesn’t stray from its course. Truly, it is a series that is built on happiness. Everyone can use a little magic in their life, even when it seems like magic isn’t really real.